On February 10, 2015 the Sam James Institute of The Summit Church hosted a forum on “Living in 50 Shades of Grey.” Our desire was to help Christians become more comfortable talking about sex and sexuality so that media industries like Hollywood and the internet do not have a monopoly on sex education in our culture.

We believe the church has a compelling message about love and sexuality that is superior to the dominant cultural themes of disposable relationships, objectification of people, and idolization of youth. We believe that the release of the movie 50 Shades of Grey was an important time to contrast what God offers with what is becoming popular in our culture. However, we also acknowledge that the church has not always done a good job of communicating God’s desire for sexuality.

Our goal in this forum was to do equip those who listen to these materials to become sexually mature Christians who can engage their culture winsomely and non-defensively on one of the most powerful subjects in our culture – sex. We sought to accomplish this goal with three teaching unity.

  1. 50 Things Your Need to Know about 50 Shades of Grey – An brief video that overviews the book and surrounding cultural phenomenon by Covenant Eyes.
  2. A Cultural Assessment of Sexuality Inside and Outside the Church – A presentation by Cindy Peterson, Director of Women’s Discipleship at The Summit Church
  3. Learning to Skillfully and Unashamedly Enjoy God’s Gift of Sex – A presenting by Brad Hambrick, Pastor of Counseling at The Summit Church

02.10.15 SJI Forum Living In 50 Shades of Gray – Cindy Peterson from The Sam James Institute on Vimeo.

02.10.15 SJI Forum Living In 50 Shades of Gray1 1 from The Sam James Institute on Vimeo.

Listening Guide for this Presentation: SJI – Learning to Skillfully and Unashamedly Enjoy Gods Gift of Sex

Link to the larger “Creating a Gospel-Centered Marriage: Intimacy” seminar

If this post was beneficial for you, then considering reading other blogs from my “Favorite Posts on Sex and Sexuality” post which address other facets of this subject.